Hi Jesse, wanted to welcome you to this forum.
Yes, it's a quandry I am familiar with. I have a child who is very 'bright', mg, according to the psychologist/tester. Ds has some processing speed issues, like a lot of gifted kids. Although he does well at school he doesn't necessarily light up the standardized / iq tests.
He might miss out on next year's gt program, but we are keeping our fingers crossed he does not. He has been in it this year and really really blossomed. It does seem well suited to his abilities, although he still complains of being bored in his regular class, states he would enjoy harder math, less boring books to read, etc. In addition to boredom, he does not feel like he fits in the regular class, and being in the program he has met several kids who enjoy his company and vice versa, so that is a real breakthrough for him.
I think from what I've read from a lot of parents on this forum and even some kids, that even/especially extremely or profoundly gifted kids can and often do end up floundering in the school systems, and frankly I imagine that not just educators but parents themselves begin to wonder 'maybe we were wrong, and he/she's not that gifted, etc., etc.' Seems no matter the level of giftedness, things don't end up being cut-and-dried. And of course, the further out on the ends of the bell curve, the less likely these kids are to find folks with whom they fit - if not the major factor, certainly one of the major factors in having a decent life.
All in all, it's good to know there's at least a few kids sort of like our ds in the school, rather than having to come to a realization that there isn't a kid in three counties like him. I do feel for those families, too. Our youngest child might have even more trouble fitting, based on what we are seeing.
As for getting a real 'bead' on an 'log', that seems to be a lifelong journey.
We're all in this sort of odd, mixed bag boat together. Welcome aboard.
